Abstract

Acrylamide (AA), a genotoxic carcinogen (IARC class 2A), is a food contaminant formed by thermal treatment of food. The margin of exposure (MOE) of AA, representing the distance between the bench mark dose associated with 10% tumor incidence in rats and the estimated average human exposure, is considered to be low and of human health concern. After uptake, AA is partly converted by CYP450 2E1 into the genotoxic epoxide glycidamide (GA). GA forms DNA adducts, primarily at N7 of guanine (N7-GA-Gua). AA and its genotoxic metabolite GA are conjugated to glutathione and excreted via urine as mercapturic acids (MA), namely N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-cysteine (AAMA), and N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-2-carbamoylethyl)-cysteine (GAMA) which are used as biomarkers for exposure. Female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were kept on an AA free diet. AA was given by gavage in a broad dosage range, covering single doses of 0.1-10,000 µg/kg bw. Formation of urinary MAs and of N7-GA-Gua DNA adducts in liver, kidney and lung was measured 16 h after application. The lowest dosage of 0.1 µg AA/kg bw did not result in significantly enhanced MA excretion, as compared to untreated controls, found to excrete about 0.8 nmol MA. Since the animals may have ingested at best 0.4 nmol AA/d with the diet, this findings suggests a background level of endogenously formed AA. At the lowest dosage (0.1 µg AA/kg bw), N7-GA-Gua adducts above the limit of detection (LOD, 0.2 adducts/10exp8 nucleotides) were not detected in any organ tested. At 1 µg/kg bw, enhanced adduct levels were found in kidney (around 1 adduct/10exp8 nucleotides) and lung (< 1 adduct/10exp8 nucleotides), but not in liver. At 10 and 100 µg/kg bw, adducts were found in all three organs, at levels not significantly different to those found at 1 µg AA/kg bw (about 1-2 adducts/10exp8 nucleotides). Taken together, the results of this in vivo study allow to conclude that exposure to single doses of AA in the range of human dietary exposure leads to N7-GA-Gua adduct levels in tissues of SD rats at the low end of steady state background DNA lesions of various origin in human and rat tissues. This study was supported by ISIC, the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee.